German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock warned today that there is a risk that Russian President Vladimir Putin will take advantage of the transition period in US politics, to advance in Ukraine. That is why Berbok called on the Europeans to immediately increase their aid to Kiev, France Press reported.
„We don't have time to wait for spring. "Now is the transition period that Putin always expected from the point of view of the outcome of the US elections," said Analena Berbok.
Her message was addressed to all EU member states as well as to Germany, where there is uncertainty about the date of the inevitable early parliamentary elections after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition collapsed last week, AFP notes.
"Everything that Europe can contribute in support of Ukraine must be mobilized now”, the German foreign minister said, stressing the need to strengthen Ukrainian air defenses. According to Berbok, Kyiv is in a “decisive phase” of the war.
"Immediately before the US elections, “for the first time, there were so many drone attacks against Kiev than ever before, and the war reached a new dimension (...) now it is a full air war,” explained Berbok.
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She expressed hope that Germany will be able to increase its budget spending in support of Kiev to “cover at least the basic needs of Ukrainian defense, especially in terms of protection from unmanned aerial vehicles”.
„In addition to measures at the European level, we now need more financial means in the budget”, she said.
According to her, more generally, NATO's goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense “is no longer sufficient nowadays”.
In order to reach a quick deal on the budget and remove political uncertainty, she called for quick clarification on the timetable until Germany's future elections.
Yesterday, Olaf Scholz said he was ready to submit to a vote of confidence by MPs this year, without waiting until mid-January, but the opposition rejected the conditions he set, wanting to move that vote forward, he said AFP.